Pro Football: Week 7 NFL picks: Bears will top Bucs in London

Six weeks of the NFL season are in the books. In The Rock River Times vs. the WNTA 1330 AM Radio Guys Fearless NFL Picks Contest, we are all even. I’ve won three weeks, and among the four of them, they’ve got three wins. Ken DeCoster won for the second time this week. He was 10-2 heading into the Monday night game. I was 9-3, and all five of us took the Jets over the Dolphins.

Last week, I took all home teams, except for the Saints at the Buccaneers, and I got that one wrong. This week, I like more of the visitors.

Starting with the Bears (3-3) at the Buccaneers (4-2). I’m not exactly sure why they say the Bears are the visitors in this game. Neither team will be playing on its home turf. The game is at Wembley Stadium in London, England. I’m assuming the Bears team that manhandled the Vikings last week will be the team that boards the plane for the trip across the pond. If that is indeed the case, they should be able to beat the Bucs. If the Bears team that was humiliated by the Lions two weeks ago makes the trip, they don’t stand a chance. I’m taking the Bears. Here’s hoping the right guys have their passports packed.

The undefeated defending world champion Green Bay Packers (6-0) have to go on the road as well, not nearly as far as London, though. They have a late-afternoon game in the neighboring state of Minnesota. They will make the Vikings (1-5) their next victim, stay undefeated and improve to 7-0 before heading into their bye week.

In the other game involving an NFC North team, the Lions (5-1) host the Atlanta Falcons (3-3). I look for the Lions to bounce back from their loss to the 49ers last week and get back into the win column.

A couple of other road teams I like this week are the Texans (3-3) over the Titans (3-2) and the Seahawks (2-3) over the Browns (2-3).

The Raiders (4-2) are at home and will be looking to make it three wins in a row when the Chiefs (2-3) come to town. I think the Raiders are playing some inspired football since the passing of their long-time owner Al Davis earlier this month. I don’t see them stumbling against KC.

In the battle of the really bad, it’s the Dolphins (winless at press time) against the Broncos (1-4). Since somebody has to win, I’ll take the Kyle Orton– or Tim Tebow-led guys over the fish.

In a West Coast travels to East Coast matchup, the Chargers are in the Big Apple to face the Jets. The Jets have a short week following their appearance on Monday Night Football, and the Chargers will be extremely well rested following their bye week. I like the fresh team from the left coast.

Former Bears quarterback-turned-Washington Redskins Rex Grossman got benched last week in their loss to the Eagles. I’m not sure if he will be back in a starting role or not when they travel to Carolina this week to face rookie QB Cam Newton and the Panthers. Whether it’s Grossman or his replacement, John Beck, I’m going with the Redskins (3-2) to rebound and drop the Panthers to 1-6.

Pittsburgh (4-2) gets to go to Arizona to face the Cardinals (1-4). While the steel town boys are out there taking in some sun, I think they’ll add another “W” to their collection.

The Cowboys (2-3) will be back in the Taj Mahal of the NFL when they host the winless Rams. Dallas has lost their last two games and is in desperate need of a win. Who better to help them out than the lowly Rams? I look for the Cowboys to win big.

Speaking of winless, did someone say the Indianapolis Colts? Who would have ever believed they’d be 0-6 at this point in the season? That is reality, and the sad news for Colts fans is it’s not going to get any better this week when they travel to the Big Easy to take on the Saints (4-2) in a nationally-televised Sunday night game. The Colts will fall to 0-7.

Next Monday night’s game features the Ravens (4-1) at the Jaguars (1-5). Look for Ray Lewis and the Ravens’ defense to shine like they usually do in prime time, especially against a lesser opponent. This should be a double-digit win for the Baltimore Black Birds.

Tune in to WNTA 1330 AM at 7:35 a.m. this Friday morning during the Doug McDuff and Company show to hear how the radio guys plan to try to beat me this week.

The teams with week seven byes are Buffalo, Cincinnati, New England, New York Giants, Philadelphia and San Francisco.